Engraving designs in bodies of transparent plastic composition



June 13, 1950 L STUEMPGES C. ENGRAVING DESIGNS IN BODIES OF TRANSPARENT PLASTIC COMPOSITION Filed April 26, 1948 INVENTOR.

6/4/94 1.. Sfuempyes Patented June 13, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ENGRAVING DESIGNS IN BODIES OF TRAN S- PARENT PLASTIC COMPOSITION 8 Claims.

This invention relates to articles, such for instance as costume jewelry, which are formed from bodies composed of a transparent thermo-plastic material and which are characterized by having carved into the rear face thereof a cavity portraying the figure of a flower or other piece of art work arranged and adapted to stand out in relief when viewed from the front through the transparent body of the plastic. The invention has as its object the provision of a method of perfecting the art work in an article of this nature, and such, more especially, as will develop unusual realism in the appearance of the produced figure which the art work portrays.

Generally stated, the invention resides in a novel technique of filling the cavity, and in colortreating both the wall surfaces of the cavity and the fill material, to give to the viewed figure a translucent quality and an appearance of solidity which has been lacking in previous articles of this nature.

The invention consists in the method of manufacturing an article of the described character, and in the product of said manufacture.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a transparent thermo-plastic body produced in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view thereof on line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing the cavity carved in the back face thereof prior to the introduction of the filling material thereto.

In the practice of my invention the body of material which is to be carved is denoted generally by the numeral 5 and is or may be a rectangular solid composed of any suitable transparent plastic material as, for example, methylmethacrylate. The carving is performed in the back face of the body, and is such as will produce cavities 6 outlining any desired art figure, the figure which I have elected to illustrate being that of a rose and showing a flower or flowers in association with several clusters of leaves. The produced cavities, and which are usually in a connecting series, are thoroughly cleaned, and I then pour or press therein a filling I comprised of finely granulated particles of a suitable thermoplastic substance, of which one example is the particulated moulding substance composed of Lucite grains and commercially available as Crystal H-7500 HG-l, Fine Gran.

In performing this filling step, the powder need ordinarily be applied only to the cavities which define the flowers, leaving the leaf and stem cavities open, and this may be explained by pointing out that the leaves and the stems, when later tinted to a green color of suificient intensity to give visual realism, retain little of the transparency which characterizes the more delicate pastels which I apply to the flower cavities.

The next step in the process is to apply said coloring. The coloring agent is desirably one compounded by dissolving powdered Ciba dyes (an analine dye) in water and acetone, and this coloring fluid is applied in the instance of both the filled and the non-filled cavities by the use of hypodermic needles. The technique is to touch the point of the needle to the wall surface of the cavity and deliver thereto minute quantities of the various required colors, working progressively over the entire face of the cavity and using different dyes as may be required to obtain the desired color effect, and an artist experienced in performing this work can complete the entire design in a surprisingly short period of time. Within the filled cavities, the needle is perforce inserted through the filler material and there develops a certain amount of bleeding as the coloring fluid diiTuses itself through the compacted mass of granular material, this diffusion being quite beneficial in point of giving to the ultimate picture the translucency fo which the present invention strives. The acetone contained in the coloring fluid performs a desirable bonding function upon the grains Of plastic contained in the cavities. It is here pointed out that the granular particles, while they are preferably in a clear colorless condition when applied to the cavities and are then tinted by .the diffusion action of the injected coloring fluid, might conceivably be introduced as pre-dyed grains although a picture produced by this method might lack the detail of the needle-coloring step and would in any event require unusually painstaking care in the selection and placing of the pre-dyed grains.

The final step of the process is to integrate the granular particles by subjection to heat, and a 45-minute baking interval under a temperature condition approximately 200 F. accomplishes this end. While this heating step securely bonds the myriad grains of plastic filler, the granular form of the component particles is substantially unaffected and it is these thousands of minute grains, which each individually gather and reflect light, which are responsible for giving to the pictured flowers a unique and extremely attractive quality of translucency quite realistic of a express reference is herein made might be satisfactorily used without departing from the spirit of the invention and I accordingly intend that.

the hereto annexed claims be given a scope fully commensurate with the broadestinterpretation which the employed language fairly permits-w What I claim is: I 1. An ornamental object comprising a solid body of transparent plastic compositionengraved i and color-treated from the back side to produce 7 a floral or other design which stands out in relief when viewed from the front, and. having the cavity which1is formed by said engraving filled with. myriad compacted individual particle's homogeneous to thematerialcomposing the .body and dyed in harmonywith the color treatment given to the design."

2." An ornamental object comprising a solid body of transparent plastic composition engraved fr'om the back side to portray that which'appears tobe a picture win'relief when viewed from the I front, andlhavingthe cavity which is, formed by said engraving filledwith" myriad compacted individual particles homogeneousto *the material composing the body and suitably dyed to give colordetail to the viewed picture.

3. An, ornamental object-comprising, a solid body ,of transparent plastic composition engraved from the back side" to portray that which appears to outline 'a picture in relief when viewed from the front,.and having the wallof the cavity which.

is formed by said "engraving coated withmyriad andminute contiguous individual particles each likewise composed of transparent plastic. and.

bonded'bne toanother and to the plastic which composes the body, the coating being, suitably. dye'djto render the same translucent, andgive color detail to the viewedpicture- 4..The method of manufacturing an-ornamental object which comprises the" steps of engraving. from the back side, a solidbodyof. transparent plastic compositionto portray that which appears tofoutlirie a picture in relief when viewed from the front,.fillirlg the cavity which isformed by said' engraving step with a closelyjcompacted.

mass of. particulate matter homogeneous to the material composing. the body, injecting coloring fluid: throughlthe filling.' mat'eria1 onto, the .wall of ithefcavitygto"color the outlined picture and by diffusion to' adj acentparticles of the filling 4. material coincidently dyeing the latter in harmony with the color treatment of the picture, and bonding the particles of filling material one to another and to the plastic which composes the body.

5. The method of manufacturing an ornamental object which comprises the steps of engraving, from the back side, a solid body composed of a transparent thermo-plastic material to produce a pictorial design which stands out in relief when viewed from thejfront,icoating the wall of the cavity which is formed by said engraving with a closely compacted mass of granular thermoplastic material, dyeing the wall-coating grains of thermo-plastic to give color detail to the viewed picture, and bonding said wall-coating grains one to another and-to the plastic which composes the body without in so doing destroying the granular characteristic of the coating.

6.v The method of manufacturing an ornamental object which comprises :the steps of engraving,

from theback side, a solid body composed of a transparent ithermo-plastic material to produce a pictorial design which stands out in relief when.

viewedfrom thetfront; coating the wall of the cavitywhich is formed by said engraving with closelyzcompacted minute grains of transparent and colorless thermo-plastic material, dyeing the wall coatingigrains of thermo-plas'tic to render the. same translucent. and .give' color detail to the viewed picture, 'and' bonding said wall-coating grainsfone. to another and to .the plastic which composes the bodywithout in so doing destroying the granular nature of -the component particles.

7."Anornamental object comprising a body of a transparent plastic composition having recesses in the back'face' thereof. forming adesign which stands out in relief when viewed from the front and having portions of said recesses filled with a myriad of colored individual granular particles off'tr'ansparent .plasti'c composition to give the design'a translucentqualityi 8. An ornamental object as in claim 7 wherein said granular particles are bonded together and tothe walls of the recesses so that they will not change position:' v

CLARK L. STUEMPGES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,185,492 Barrett Jan. 2, 1940 2,354,857 Gits et a1. Aug. 1, 1944 OTHER :REFERENCES.

car ing-imam;Pop; 86., Aug; 1947, pp. 113, 160 164, 

